METTLE-TESTED
MINNESOTANS

1900 Paris Alvin Kraenzlein, Minneapolis, gold (four), track and field: First athlete to earn four golds in a single discipline, winning the 60 meters, 110-meter hurdles, 200-meter hurdles and long jump; still the only track athlete to win four individual golds at a single Olympics; moved to Milwaukee as an infant.

1904 ST. LOUIS Daniel “Ned” Sawyer, Pine Island, gold, golf: Member of winning team (affiliated with the Western Golf Association) that competed at Glen Echo Country Club against two other teams from the U.S. Frank Waller, St. Paul, silver (two), track and field: Finished second to three-time gold medalist Harry Hillman in the 400 meters and the 400-meter hurdles; went to high school in Menomonie, Wis., and ran track at Wisconsin. Peter Sturholdt, Red Wing, bronze, boxing: Lost the bronze medal match but was awarded the medal in the lightweight division after the initial silver medal winner was disqualified for competing under an alias in 1905.

1912 STOCKHOLM William Neil McDonnell, Detroit Lakes, silver and bronze, shooting: Helped U.S. take second in the running-target, single-shot team competition and took third in the small-bore rifle, disappearing target (25 meters); also served as medical officer for shooters on U.S. team.

1920 ANTWERP Frank Loomis, St. Paul, gold, track and field: Won the 400-meter hurdles in 54.0 seconds, a world record at the time; eclipsed the previous record holder, U.S. teammate John Norton, by 0.6 seconds. Anthony Conroy, St. Paul, silver, ice hockey: Competed in the Summer Games for the sport’s inaugural Olympic appearance; scored 10 goals, including the first eight, in a 29-0 win over Switzerland, the U.S. record for a single game; finished with 14 goals in the Games. J. Edward Fitzgerald, Northfield, silver, ice hockey: Tallied a shorthanded goal in the quarterfinal win over Switzerland. Frank “Moose” Goheen, White Bear Lake, silver, ice hockey: Scored seven goals in four games for the Americans, one in the first half of the silver medal game against Czechoslovakia. Cyril Weidenborner, St. Paul, silver, ice hockey: Started two games in goal for U.S. team and did not allow a goal in wins over Sweden (7-0) and Czechoslovakia (16-0) in the silver medal round.

1924 PARIS Leonard Carpenter, Minneapolis, gold, rowing: Member of the winning men’s eight crew (eight oars with coxswain) that cruised in round one and held off Canada and Italy in the final. Alfred Lindley, Minneapolis, gold, rowing: Member of men’s eight crew that secured gold with a commanding 16-second win over runner-up Canada. Alfred Wilson, Minneapolis, gold, rowing: Member of winning men’s eight crew, which also included Benjamin Spock, the famed pediatrician. Raymond Fee, St. Paul, bronze, boxing: Took third in the flyweight division despite injuring his arm in the semifinals. His opponent in the bronze medal fight, also injured, withdrew from the match, giving Fee the medal. Tom Lieb, Faribault, bronze, track and field: Considered one of the pioneers of the modern spin throwing delivery in discus; finished third with a top throw of 147 feet.

1932 Los Angeles Evelyne Hall, Minneapolis, silver, track and field: Competed in the inaugural 80-meter hurdles, finishing second to Babe Didrikson in a photo finish. Hall led Didrikson after the final hurdle, but Didrikson was declared the winner after a review. Both runners shared the official time of 11.7 seconds, a world record. Tom Connolly, St. Paul, bronze, gymnastics: Took third in rope climbing, which was categorized as an artistic gymnastics event. Participants were given three attempts to scale an 8-meter-high rope; Connolly took bronze with a top time of 7.0 seconds.

1936 BERLIN Charles Leonard, Fort Snelling, silver, modern pentathlon: Placed second, bolstered by a rare perfect score in pistol shooting; was sixth in freestyle swimming and seventh in cross-country running.

1956 MELBOURNE Burdette “Burdie” Haldorson, Austin, gold, basketball: Played alongside Bill Russell in guiding U.S. men’s team to an 8-0 record and the gold medal; averaged 8.6 points per game.

1960 ROME Burdette “Burdie” Haldorson, Austin, gold, basketball: Won second consecutive gold medal as the U.S. men — with Oscar Robertson and Jerry West — again went relatively unchallenged to win gold; averaged 2.9 points per game.

1968 MEXICO CITY John Clawson, Duluth, gold, basketball: Helped U.S. men’s team continue its Olympic success but in a more tightly contested tournament; averaged 3.6 points for the Americans, who went 9-0 for gold.

1972 MUNICH Bill Allen, Minneapolis, gold, sailing: Elevated from being an alternate while at the Games and won the three-person keelboat, or the Soling class, in the event’s Olympic debut (it remained until 2000). Only six races were held because of weather delays, but the U.S. team won three. Craig Lincoln, Minneapolis, bronze, diving: Took third in the men’s 3-meter springboard competition the same year he won an NCAA championship in the event for the Gophers.

1984 LOS ANGELES Steve Erickson, Minneapolis, gold, sailing: Won three of seven races in the two-person keelboat event, or the Star class, rallying in the final race to secure gold. Susan Rapp, Eden Prairie, gold and silver, swimming: Swam breaststroke leg in preliminary heat of 4x100-meter medley relay for gold medal and took second with a late burst in the 200 breaststroke. Jim Martinez, Osseo, bronze, wrestling: Pinned his opponent, favored Stefan Negrisan of Romania, in 25 seconds to win the bronze medal match in the Greco-Roman lightweight division.

1988 SEOUL Robert Seguso, Minneapolis, gold, tennis: Played with Ken Flach in men’s doubles, entering the Olympics as the top-ranked team in the world; won first four matches in straight sets and the final in a hard-fought five-set match over Emilio Sanchez Vicario and Sergio Casal of Spain 6-3, 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-7 (1), 9-7. Dave Krmpotich, Duluth, silver, rowing: Member of men’s coxless four crew that matched Americans’ silver medal in ‘84; had fastest time in opening heat but finished behind East Germany by 2.4 seconds for silver.

1996 ATLANTA Briana Scurry, Minneapolis, gold, soccer: Was starting goalie on U.S. women’s team that defeated China 2-1 in the final; went 4-0-1 as the starter and had 21 saves and a 0.59 goals-against average, tops among keepers at the Games. Tom Malchow, St. Paul, silver, swimming: Edged Australia’s Scott Goodman on the final stroke in a duel for second place in the 200-meter butterfly. Brandon Paulson, Coon Rapids, silver, wrestling: Placed second in the Greco-Roman flyweight division, losing the gold medal match to Armen Nazaryan of Armenia.

2000 SYDNEY Tom Malchow, St. Paul, gold, swimming: Returned to win the 200-meter butterfly after taking silver in the event four years earlier.

2004 ATHENS Briana Scurry, Minneapolis, gold, soccer: Returned as the starting goalie as the American women won again; went 5-0-1 in goal, posted a 0.60 goals-against average and had eight saves in the 2-1 win over Brazil in the gold medal game. Mardy Fish, Edina, silver, tennis: Reached the men’s singles final in a field littered with upsets, taking Nicolas Massu to five sets before he lost 6-3, 3-6, 2-6, 6-3, 6-4. Sada Jacobson, Rochester, bronze, fencing: One of two U.S. medal winners in women’s individual saber; defeated Romania’s Cătălina Gheorghițoaia 15-7 in the bronze medal match.

2008 BEIJING Sada Jacobson, Rochester, silver and bronze, fencing: Returned after her bronze in 2004 as the top seed and won silver in individual saber, losing to defending Olympic champion and teammate Mariel Zagunis 15-8 in the final; also led U.S. to bronze in women’s team saber. Micah Boyd, St. Paul, bronze, rowing: Member of men’s eight crew that finished second to Great Britain in round one, then won the repechage to advance to the final, where the U.S. placed third. Matt Schnobrich, Minneapolis, bronze, rowing: Member of men’s eight crew that challenged Great Britain for second place but finished 0.23 seconds behind for bronze.

2012 LONDON Rachel Bootsma, Eden Prairie, gold, swimming: Swam backstroke leg in preliminary heat for gold medal winning 4x100-meter medley relay team, sharing the podium with decorated Olympians Missy Franklin and Dana Vollmer. Lindsay Whalen, Hutchinson, gold, basketball: Averaged 8.0 points at point guard as U.S. women swept all eight games by an average of 34 points per game. Megan Kalmoe, Minneapolis, bronze, rowing: Member of women’s quadruple sculls team that challenged Ukraine and Germany early in the final but settled for bronze. Susie Scanlan, South St. Paul, bronze, fencing: Recorded two wins against Italy in opening match of medal round in women’s team epee; U.S. took third by defeating Russia in sudden-death overtime 31-30.

2016 RIO Bethanie Mattek-Sands, Rochester, gold, tennis: Teamed with Jack Sock and advanced to all-U.S. final in mixed doubles, defeating Venus Williams and Rajeev Ram 6-7 (3), 6-1, 10-7 for gold. Lindsay Whalen, Hutchinson, gold, basketball: Shared team-high scoring honors with 17 points in 101-72 win over Spain in the women’s final; averaged 7.9 points per game as Team USA went 8-0. Kelly Catlin, Arden Hills, silver, cycling: Member of women’s team pursuit squad that challenged favored Great Britain, which won in world-record time; the Americans’ second-place time in the final was the fourth fastest ever. Alise Willoughby, St. Cloud, silver, BMX racing: Moved up from eighth place in the qualifying round to take silver in her second Olympics.

2021 TOKYO Michael Andrew, Edina, gold, swimming: Member of the world-record-setting men’s 4x100-meter medley relay team, swimming breaststroke in the final; grew up in South Dakota and Kansas. Suni Lee, St. Paul, gold, silver and bronze, gymnastics: Turned in a memorable performance in winning the women’s all-around competition and followed up with a bronze on the uneven bars; helped the U.S. women take silver in the team competition. Jordan Thompson, Edina, gold, volleyball: Was having a breakthrough Games, including a 28-kill performance in a straight-sets win over China in pool play, before a sprained ankle in pool play against Russia sidelined her for the rest of the tournament. Grace McCallum, Isanti, silver, gymnastics: Helped U.S. women finish second in the team event with the Americans’ second-best score on vault, beam and floor exercise. Regan Smith, Lakeville, silver (two) and bronze, swimming: Won three medals in her first Olympics, taking third in the 100-meter backstroke, placing second in the 200 butterfly and swimming backstroke on the second-place 4x100 medley relay team.